Holiday Mini Run: JCW at Brands Hatch GP, No Quali, All Climb

Описание: To get ahead of the Christmas holiday, today’s AMS2 session puts the Mini Cooper JCW on the full Brands Hatch GP layout, one of the UK’s most demanding circuits. Brands Hatch GP is a 3.916 km rollercoaster of elevation changes, blind crests, and fast, flowing corners like Paddock Hill Bend, Hawthorns, and Clearways, all of which punish even small mistakes and make race pace hard to sustain over a stint. In the JCW Mini, with its 2.0‑litre turbocharged inline‑four sending 278 hp through the front wheels via a six‑speed sequential gearbox, the track becomes a proper test of momentum driving, front-tire management, and bravery over the brows.

Practice goes well enough to put the car third on the timing sheets, but failing to set a qualifying time means starting from the very back of the grid. On a circuit that has historically not been kind, that turns the 20‑minute race into a pure recovery mission: survive the opening laps, pick clean passing spots without cooking the front tyres, and see how many cars can be cleared before the flag drops. Brands Hatch’s narrow racing line and limited overtaking zones make this tougher than it sounds, especially in a front‑wheel‑drive car that will happily understeer wide if the throttle is rushed on exit.

The result is less about chasing a perfect lap and more about racecraft: timing dives into Druids, getting a good launch out of Graham Hill Bend, and committing through fast sections while trusting that the car will stick. For a track that has rarely been friendly, starting dead last is a bold way to attack it... but it makes for exactly the kind of tense, elbows‑out Mini racing that shows why the JCW class has become a favourite in AMS2.

Check-out other great AMS2 drives on the playlist,    • Automobilista Motorsport Simulator 2  .